Study Tips & Resources to Pass the RD Exam

Are you studying for the Registered Dietitian exam? Congrats! You’ve already accomplished so much and made it through some difficult steps to get here.

The RD exam is your last step to calling yourself a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist (RDN) and starting your new career! In this blog, I will discuss the resources and tips I used to study for the exam, how long I studied, and recommendations for passing it on your first attempt. 

What is the Registered Dietitian Exam (CDR exam)?

The Commission on Dietetic Registration (CDR) licensing exam is required to become a credentialed RDN. You might think of it like a board exam for dietitians. Though it can be stressful, if you study hard you can pass it your first time like I did (thank God!). Even if you don’t pass it the first time, you can retake it as many times as you need, but you have to wait 45 days between attempts. 

How to Qualify for & Register for the RD Exam

To be able to sit for the RD exam, you must complete a didactic program in nutrition, a dietetic internship, and a master’s degree (in any field). You can read my previous blog for more on the steps to becoming a RDN. After your internship, you will receive a verification statement that allows you to register for your exam. 

I recommend that when you get your verification statement, you decide when you want to take the exam and register for it. This will force you to start studying and put a timeline in place to keep you on track, and ensure that you can take the test when you want. Depending on where you live, testing centers may offer limited appointments, so make sure you check dates far before you plan to take your test! It’s highly unlikely that you’ll be able to book your exam one or two weeks before you want to take it because slots fill up quickly. 

I received my verification statement in May and I had planned to take my exam end of June. I assumed booking a time wouldn’t be hard because I live in Los Angeles with lots of testing centers. However, when I checked availability in early June, the dates I wanted were unavailable. I ended up having to push back my exam date by about three weeks. If there’s a specific date or week you want, go ahead and schedule it when you start studying. You can reschedule later if needed, as long as it’s not too close to your exam date. 

How Much Time Do You Need to Study for the RD Exam?

Overall, the time between the end of my internship and RD exam was about 8 weeks, but total study time was closer to 6 weeks. For me, this was a perfect amount of time to feel adequately prepared and confident. I think anything less than 5 weeks would have left me feeling nervous and unsure – but that’s just me! I know of people who studied 3-4 weeks and passed. Here’s what my timeline looked like:

My Study Timeline for the RD Exam

• End of April – I finished my internship and took a few days off to rest
• May – serious studying 3-6 hours per day until the last few days of May, when my husband and I took a celebratory trip to Mexico (I would highly recommend taking a vacation right out of your internship to take a mental break if you can). 
• June – studying 3-6 hours a day depending on how disciplined I was that day and how much other work I had to do. I have a private practice, so I was able to be very flexible in my studying.
• Last week of June – out of town for a wedding. I studied on the airplane and a bit on the road, but otherwise enjoyed the break. 
• First 2 weeks of July – Final studying before taking my exam

Resources to Study for & Pass the RD Exam

There are a variety of great resources to prepare you for the RD exam. I will share what I used and what I liked about each one. I found that various resources ask practice test questions in different ways and may focus more on one area of study than another. Using multiple resources helped me to think differently and research new topics, better preparing me for the exam. I didn’t purchase any study programs because most programs are hundreds of dollars (more than the actual exam). I felt like I could pass the exam on my own, and if I didn’t, then I would consider spending money on a study program.

Here are the (mostly free) resources I used: 

• Dietetic Internship Resources – My internship program gave us four PDF documents, one for each domain of the exam. Some of them were over 100 pages of notes of things we needed to know for both the CDR exam and in our future practice as RDs. This was an amazing resource not only for the exam, but is still something I use as a reference. Throughout my internship, which was about 9 months, I would review these resources on the weekend to start my studying, highlighting, and making notes. 

• Pocket Prep – my internship also gave us free access to an app called Medical Pocket Prep. This is a phenomenal resource for the RD exam. It’s essentially mini quizzes that you can customize. It helps to learn how questions might be asked and provides reasoning behind the right and wrong answers. I loved this because I could do it at home or while waiting for an appointment or on a road trip while my husband was driving. It also has one full-length test you can do, so I saved this for about two weeks before my actual exam to practice taking a full test. If your internship doesn’t provide it I would recommend this as a worthwhile investment.

• Jean Inman – I had heard that the Jean Inman course was boring, so I didn’t plan to use it, but I was blessed that someone in my internship had it and gave me a copy for free to use. However, if you do have to pay for it, it’s also a good investment! While dull to listen to, this was one of the most valuable resources for me because it has 4 practice exams (one for each domain) with a lot of questions. The questions were very different from Pocket Prep, so it helped me to think differently and address new questions I hadn’t thought of before. There was a lot I didn’t know in these quizzes, which helped me research and study much more effectively. 

The guides contain both audio and written materials, so I listened to these on the plane and when running or cleaning. I would also listen and read the material at the same time as often as I could, which helped me the most. 

When I got closer to the exam, I used the quizzes and would sit down and do 125 questions at a time to mimic the exam. Then, I went back and reviewed missed questions and re-tested myself on those. However, no explanations are offered for the test questions, so having outside resources to help explain can be very helpful. 

• Dietetics with Dana Podcast and Facebook Group – This is a great outside resource for understanding Jean Inman, as well as getting your personal questions answered and exploring other test questions. Dana is a RDN and RD exam tutor. She has a podcast and study group where she answers people’s questions from the Facebook group and explains the reasoning behind them. Many people ask about Jean Inman questions and Dana answers them with explanation, which is very helpful. She runs through questions and answers very quickly and doesn’t have many visuals, so it can be a bit hard to follow, especially on the podcast. But I still found these resources to be useful and they are free! She does offer paid mentoring, group coaching and courses if you want to pay for extra tutoring. 

• Chomping Down the RD exam – in this podcast,  Dr. Feraz breaks down Pocket Prep questions and the reasoning for the answers in-depth and very clearly. I LOVED this podcast. Unfortunately, he’s not producing it anymore, but the existing episodes are great to listen to when you’re driving or walking. He’s really good at teaching and providing memory tips with a lot of humor. I listened to several episodes more than once and learned a lot from them. Again, another great free teaching tool!

• The RD Exam Made Easy – this is another podcast that is no longer being produced, but is an evergreen resource. This podcast is less test-question focused and more interview-based with teaching on dietetics topics. I listened to this while training for a half marathon and a triathlon during my internship because the episodes are anywhere from 30-60 minutes.

• All Access Dietetics – I attended several free webinars from All Access Dietetics that had very useful tips on how to study and they explain exactly how the exam works, scoring, etc. They also sell a study program that I imagine is a worthwhile investment. I didn’t purchase it because I had Jean Inman and didn’t want to spend money on another course, otherwise I may have considered buying their program. 

• Quizlet – I used Quizlet after exhausting Pocket Prep and Jean Inman. It helped me discover questions that were new and different. This is another way you can build quizzes and take timed tests for practice. I found some really random questions in Quizlet that weren’t in any of the study resources. This again helped me consider various ways questions might be asked and what information I needed to review. 

Tip for Studying for the Registered Dietitian Exam

While having various resources – including your school books and notes – can be very helpful, you also need to know how to use them. To pass the exam, you must understand the information and be able to think critically, not just memorize facts. Here are a few ways to learn the information:

• Take practice test questions rather than just reading and memorize content. 
• After each practice question, take time to figure out what all of the answers mean and why they are wrong or right. 
• Don’t skip over missed questions. Research why you got it wrong and look at the alternate answers to figure out why they were wrong or right. If you take your time to do this, studying and learning will be far more effective than just reading over notes or listening to podcasts.

Here are some additional study tips to try:

• Use multiple forms of learning – even if you’re more of a visual or auditory learner, try using all forms of learning to solidify information in your brain. For instance, when you listen to a podcast, sit down and write notes to engage multiple parts of your brain. 
• Try studying while moving – I listened and learned better when I was running. If I put on a podcast while running, I usually paid closer attention and retained information better than sitting in the car or at my desk. See if something like this works for you. Going on a walk is another great way to learn without being stuck at a table or desk all day. 
• Make flash cards  for any topic that is hard for you to remember. I preferred this over Quizlet because I could take my flash cards with me anywhere to study and writing down helps with learning. I would often ask my husband to help me with these and I would explain the answer to him to make sure I understood it. 
• Practice your math – don’t just memorize formulas or put them on notecards. Make sure that when you get a math question you know why a certain formula works. Sometimes I found that the formulas got my brain more tangled up than if I could just think about what the questoin was asking and how I could find the answer. Practice a lot of math if it’s not your strong suit, like myself. Luckily, I didn’t have many math questions on my exam and the ones I had were pretty basic aside from one or two tube feeding questions.
• Teach someone – when you finish a podcast or a study session on a particular topic, ask a friend or family member if you can teach them what you learned. Teaching is one of the best ways to assess understanding. If you can make sense of a concept to someone else, then you probably know it well. Ask them to ask you questions as well. My husband would often ask me things out of curiosity, and sometimes he stumped me. This would force me to go back to my notes or even do more research to find the answer, which further reinforced my learning. Plus, you will use this learning not just for the test, but with your future patients/clients!
• Practice taking a full exam – The RD exam is 125 questions minimum with a time limit of 2.5 hours. You can’t have food or water and there are no breaks. If you have to go to the bathroom, the time will be taken from your exam. There is no music and no scientific calculators. I got a dry erase board and markers for notes and math questions and a tiny handheld calculator. Since this is not the easiest situation, and it’s high pressure, practice at home. Set aside 2.5 hours with a timer and go through 125 questions. Try to do it with no distractions, water, music or anything else that you wouldn’t have in the real test. Get used to how challenging it can be to focus for 2.5 hours. 

Final Practical Tips for Taking the RD Exam

When it comes to taking the actual test, here are some helpful things to keep in mind for success: 

• Arrive early –  Plan to get there at least 30 minutes early to find the location and parking, calm yourself down, go to the bathroom, and sign in. Even better, find the test center a week or so before you ever take the exam and see what traffic will be like at that time of day. I think I arrived 45 minutes early just to be safe, which was a bonus because I ended up being able to start early since the center was not busy.
• Calm down – Before you go into the testing center, do something to calm your mind. Meditate, pray, diffuse essential oils, do some deep breathing. Know that you’ve done your best to prepare and stop reviewing information. Just get your mind and body as calm as you can. 
• Dress comfortably and take layers – Go as comfy as you want since you’ll be there for a while. I chose a jumper outfit that was really comfortable but also looked pulled together because mentally I didn’t want to feel sloppy. I wanted to feel like an RD, not like a college student, but I wasn’t about to wear tight jeans or heels. Wear what works for you both physically and mentally. Take layers, because you never know what the temperature might be. Depending on the time of year, you might opt for a light t-shirt or tank top and a sweater or sweatshirt so you will be comfortable either way. You don’t want feeling cold or hot to distract you. 
• Hydrate and eat – as dietitians, we know food plays a huge role in energy and brain function. So eat a good meal before you go with plenty of carbs for energy and protein and fat to keep you full. Make sure to drink enough water, but don’t overdo it since you can’t go to the bathroom during the test without losing test time. 
• Watch the clock (if it doesn’t stress you out) – The test has a timer, so keep an eye on it to know if you need to speed up. In all of my practice tests, I finished with lots of extra time. The actual exam ended up taking me longer because I got so many questions that made me go, “huh?” You don’t know how many questions you’ll get until you’re in the test because it’s adaptive. So don’t rush, but also keep an eye on the clock so you don’t spend excessive time overthinking things and end up not finishing in time. 
• Tell yourself you can do it – mentally prepare and believe in yourself. You can do this! You’ve done the schooling, the internship, and the studying. You’ve taken so many tests up to this point and you can pass one more. Even if you don’t pass, you can try again. So tell yourself you ARE an RD and then take the test like you already succeeded. 

If you do pass the test, then go out and celebrate! This is a HUGE accomplishment. Don’t just go on with your life like it’s no big deal. Take a moment to soak it all in and recognize what you accomplished. This is YEARS of hard work that has led to a credential behind your name! 

I hope these tips and resources are as helpful to you as they were to me when I learned them. Would you add anything else? Share your tips and questions in the comments.